'They thought I was the reason she didn't run away from the Garridos': Jaycee's stepfather reveals his agony

For 18 years, his one wish was that his stepdaughter, Jaycee Lee Dugard, would be found alive.

But two years after she was rescued from her hellish ordeal at the hands of Phillip and Nancy Garrido, Carl Probyn has revealed he still hasn't seen Jaycee since the morning he watched helpless as she was abducted from a Lake Tahoe bus stop.

The 63-year-old says he believes Jaycee's family hold him partly responsible for her kidnapping - and even claim she didn't do more to run away from the Garridos because he was 'mean to her'.

Agony: Carl Probyn says he still hasn't seen his stepdaughter, Jaycee Lee Dugard, because her family hold him partly responsible for her kidnapping

He has revealed his heartbreak just days after Jaycee, now 31, made her first television appearance in an emotional two-hour interview, and as her memoirs climb to the top of the bestselling list.

Mr Probyn was only yards away from his 11-year-old stepdaughter on the morning of June 10, 1991, when she was kidnapped by the Garridos.

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As usual, he had dropped her off at the school bus stop, but then he watched in horror as she was dragged into a car by two strangers.

He jumped on to his mountain bike and raced after the vehicle, but couldn't keep up. Jaycee vanished without trace, and wasn't seen again for 18 years.

Astonishing survival: Jaycee Lee Dugard was abducted when she was just 11-years-old, left. Her stepfather says he hasn't seen her since her rescue

Courage: Jaycee Lee Dugard in her first-ever television interview, with Diane Sawyer. She now lives at an undisclosed location in California with her daughters

He split up with her mother, Terry, four years after Jaycee was abducted, and says she could never forgive him for not doing more to save her little girl.

Other members of her family suspected he had a role in her abduction - unfounded allegations which persisted even after Jaycee was found hidden in a series of squalid tents at the Garridos' Californian home.

He told the Daily Mirror: 'I feel very happy that Jaycee is living her life... But I have to say that right now, I don't think the odds are very good that I will ever see her again.'

Breaking down, he said: 'Looking back, maybe I regret I did not give her more hugs. Terry's family thought I was mean to her.

Close bond: Jaycee Lee Dugard with her mother, Terry Probyn. Her ex-husband says she's never forgiven him for not doing more to save Jaycee

'I think they thought I was the reason Jaycee did not run away from the Garridos. But I can tell you now, I really cared for that girl.'

Bestseller: Jaycee's memoir sold 175,000 copies on its first day

Jaycee was rescued in 2009, when two
female police officers became suspicious of Garrido, a convicted rapist,
and summoned the entire family - including Jaycee's two daughters,
conceived during Garrido's horrific sexual assaults - to a parole
meeting.

There, for the first time in 18 years, she wrote down her real name, a moment she described as like 'breaking an evil spell'.

In her memoir, A Stolen Life - which sold 175,000 copies on the day it was released - she writes of her joy at seeing the mother she thought she had lost forever.

But she makes no mention of Mr Probyn, who says he will be forced to read the memoir to find out about his stepdaughter's life.

Jaycee lives at a undisclosed location in California with her mother and two daughters, now aged 13 and 17. She gave birth to the youngest when she was just 14-years-old.

She is still having counselling but has learned to drive, taught by her younger sister Shayna, 21 - Mr Probyn's daughter.

She rides horses and has dreams of going to college. She’s bringing up her girls to be strong and confident, but Jaycee still refers to Garrido as the children’s ‘dad', saying 'he is what he is'.

Guilty: Kidnappers Phillip and Nancy Garrido were sentenced to 431 years and 36 years in jail respectively after admitting they held Jaycee captive for 18 years

In June, he and his wife were sentenced to 431 years and 36 years in jail respectively after pleading guilty to kidnap and rape.

As Jaycee continues to rebuild her life, she said she refuses to let Garrido steal anything more from her by being angry.

She told Diane Sawyer: 'I don’t feel like I have this rage inside me and it’s building. I refuse to let him have that; he can’t have me. It would mean he had won.’